Black Rose Night
by Pandora-69
Summary: Who is the mysterious Vampire Mason? Is February in over her head? Appearances made by Nikolas, Sarah, Aubry etc throughout the fanfic. Better than it sounds. R&R please.
1. Curious Encounter

**A/N:** The characters of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' books will only play smallish roles in this fanfic. I may make their roles larger as the fanfic progresses but I'm not sure yet. **Please review**.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of Amelia Atwater Rhodes' characters or ideas.

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Four weeks ago my friend Alicia told me that Vampires were real. Of course I had thought she was insane, any person would. It wasn't until two weeks later, when she introduced me to her friend Nissa, that I realised she was telling the truth. Nissa, of course, is a vampire. Since then I had been wondering what other mystical creatures were wondering among us, going bump in the night, but Alicia assured me that it was only Vampires. Somehow this didn't quite comfort me; after all, vampires alone are scary enough.

Thursday afternoon I found myself sitting behind the counter at work, watching some dodgy looking teenage Goths to make sure they didn't steal anything (which they did). I work at a shop called MidnightBlue that sells herbal remedies and what-not. It's actually a pretty good after school job and I certainly get to meet some interesting people. Today a very interesting person came in. Only he wasn't a person, he was a vampire.

I looked up when I heard the bell ring, alerting me that someone had entered the store. It took me a while to figure out that he was a vampire. At first I was too busy marvelling at his beauty to notice anything "Bizarre" about him. I finally noticed his ghostly pale skin and his dark vampiric aura. It's the vampiric aura that scares people (and dogs) away from vampires; of course most people don't notice it or subconsciously ignore it. It is only people who know about vampires that can knowingly sense the aura. This vampire had a slightly weak aura which meant he hadn't killed in a long time. He had messy dark brown hair, blue eyes, flawless pale skin (of course), was around six foot tall and-like most vampires- he was exceptionally good looking.

He moved across the store to a shelf stacked with old books. He rummaged around as if looking for something in particular. I was a little hesitant to offer my assistance to him for two reasons; a) he was a scary vampire b) he was too good looking for me to talk to without turning into a blubbering mess. Eventually I decided that, as the only shop assistant working, I should ask him if he needed any help. I slowly made my way around the counter and over to where he was standing.

"Can I help you with anything?" I asked, plastering the big, fake smile that all shop assistances have onto my face.

"No, I don't think you can." He said rudely not even turning to look at me.

Who did he think he was? I wouldn't care if he had of been the most attractive guy in the world, that was no excuse to be rude. However, seeing as I liked the thought of my life stretching beyond today, I decided to keep my mouth shut. I walked back behind the counter and ignored the rude patron.

Moments later the doorbell went off again, this time a girl came in. I soon realised that she too was a vampire. I was wondering how many vampires might have come into MidnightBlue over the past year without me ever realising, when the vampire girl spoke.

"Mason!" She hissed at the vampire rummaging through books, "What is taking so long? Haven't you found it yet?"

"No, it's not here."

"It has to be here! You must have missed it."

"Sarah, it's not here" Mason said with a world of threat in his voice.

I wondered what they could possibly be looking for but was smart enough not to ask.

The two vampires gracefully made their way to the door. Sarah floated out the door in one fluid movement; Mason however stopped just under the doorway and turned to face me. He looked at me only for a second before he strode out into the bustling street.

Later that night I phoned Alicia to tell her about the vampires who had been in MidnightBlue. I had told her their names and described what they looked like but she didn't think she had seen them before.

"I'm surprised I haven't seen them at one of the circuit parties I've been to." Alicia had invited me to circuit parties but I had always been too scared to go.

"I wish you wouldn't go to those things…What if something happens to you?"

"It's ok February, I told you, I've been marked. No one will touch me except for Nikolas." Alicia almost whispered the name as if he were some kind of god.

"How about you come with me on Saturday night? I'll prove how safe I am at these parties." Alicia said, trying-once again- to rope me into going to a circuit party with her.

"No. How many times do I have to tell you that I won't go?" I tried to make my tone sound stern but I'll admit that underneath I was a little curious.

I was even more curious after my encounter (however brief it may have been) with Mason. I knew that going to a blood-sucking circuit party was a dangerous and unwise idea, but maybe it was time I did something foolish for once.

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**A/N-** The first chapter is short, I know, but the next one will be longer.

**Please Review** and let me know what you think (try to be nice please).


	2. A Hidden Beauty

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed chapter one of this fanfic because here is chapter two!  
I know February isn't as tough as a lot of other leading female characters, but I like that. I think it is good to have a main character that is a little bit afraid for once. I know a lot of you like her too and I'm really glad you do.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' original characters or plots.

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**A Hidden Beauty**

"Every black rose has its thorns but some will draw blood and become more beautiful."

Saturday night came all too quickly. I'm not the bravest of people and the thought of going to a circuit party full of hungry vampires was definitely starting to freak me out. I looked into my wardrobe and was completely overwhelmed with the decision of what to wear. I had never been to a circuit party before and had no idea what I was "supposed" to wear. Luckily for me Alicia turned up an hour early to help me out.

She sat down on my bed and peered into my open wardrobe, "I thought you might need some help deciding what to wear."

"I guess I could use a little help." I said, not wanting to appear too helpless.

Alicia stood up and walked into my walk-in-wardrobe, "hmmm", she started to rip things off of hangers and pull things out of draws and throw them onto my bed. Once she had finished she walked over to my bed and started riffling through the pile of selected clothes. She laid out a siren red halter-top; one that I had bought when I was 13 and was fairly sure wouldn't fit. Below the top she placed my ultra skinny-leg black jeans and a pair of black, strappy high heals.

"Um, I don't think that top is going to fit. I bought it before puberty came in full swing." I didn't want to discourage her but I also didn't want her thinking that I was going to squeeze my boobs into that tiny thing.

Alicia laughed without even looking up from the assumable, "That's the whole point! You want it to be a tight fit. Trust me it will look great!"

I wasn't so sure I wanted to look great among a bunch of hungry, horny vampires. The top had been innocent enough on me when I was 13 but I wasn't sure it would look so innocuous now. Alicia finally talked me into trying it on (which ended up being quite a task). When I had finally squeezed into the tiny top and the too skinny jeans and strapped up the shoes I told Alicia to turn around.

"How does it look?" Try as I might, couldn't hide the uncertainty in my voice.

"You look freaking hot!"

I turned to face the mirror and was surprised to find that I did actually look quite good. It wasn't something I would normally wear but tonight I was going somewhere I wouldn't normally go so I decided to go with it.

I turned back to Alicia, "can you do my makeup?" she just smiled and winked.

At 8:30 we were nearly ready to leave. Alicia had run to the toilet and I turned nervously towards the mirror once again. Skinny-jeans are made for tall people which I am not, I'm around 5'4, but I am slender which actually made the skinny jeans look quite flattering. The red top also looked amazing, although quite snug; I just hoped I wouldn't fall out of it. The shoes made me look taller which was a bonus. Alicia had managed to make my black hair fall softly over my shoulders and my eyes were rimmed with black. My pale skin actually complimented what I was wearing for once. All in all I was pretty happy with Alicia's makeover abilities.

I heard my bedroom door swoosh open and turned to face Alicia "Are you ready to go?" She asked, looking at me nervously as though afraid I may have changed my mind.

_Was I ready? _Probably not, but when is someone ready to go to a party full of vampires who are roaming for a meal- a human meal? Never- that's when.

"I'm ready." I said, trying to sound confident (more for myself than for her).

* * *

We caught a taxi to the party as neither Alicia nor I are old enough to drive. I'm not sure what I had expected but when we pulled up at the house I was amazed to look out the window and see a seemingly normal house. It did not scream vampire in any way. There were no gargoyles, no tomb stones, no circling vultures or crows. However, I knew that no matter how normal the house appeared, what was going on inside was anything but.

I stood behind Alicia as she knocked on the front door. A tall vampire opened it and peered down at us. After a few seconds he smiled and stood aside to let us in. I looked around the room; it was a large living room with no colours- just black and white. I scanned the occupants of the room. There was roughly half vampires, half humans- perhaps there were slightly more humans than vampires. _So they have more to pick from_, I thought to myself and felt a flutter of panic in my stomach.

I looked to my side to see what Alicia was doing; which was the same as me, staring around the room. "Isn't it amazing!" she said. From the way she was scanning the room I could tell she was looking for something, or someone.

"Yeah, amazing" I said, although my heart wasn't in it. I was already regretting coming to this gathering of bloodsuckers.

"Oh, there he is! I'll be back in a minute." Alicia rushed off in the direction of a youthful looking vampire. I guessed him to be Nicholas but I couldn't' be sure.

I started to panic; I couldn't believe she had left me here by myself. I slowly made my way to one of the black leather couches, deciding to wait until Alicia came back. I looked over at the couch opposite me where a couple was making out. I was amazed realise that they were both vampires. It took me a moment to recognize the female as the vampire who had come into MidnightBlue Thursday night, Sarah. I then noticed that the male vampire she was making out with looked remarkably like the vampire Alicia had rushed off to see; only he had shorter hair…

Suddenly I got the feeling you get when you know you're being watched. I looked around the room trying to see who it was that was looking at me. It was hard because the room was quite dark and rather crowded. Finally my eyes met with someone else's gaze. I new straight away who it was, it was the vampire from last Thursday- Mason. I felt the same nervous flitter from earlier, though this time there was something else mixed in with it. He looked amused, although I could not fathom why. Slowly his eyes lowered from my face and he began to take my whole appearance in. I felt my cheeks burning and quickly looked away. I decided it was time to find Alicia.

I found her in the kitchen talking to the Vampire she had taken off with earlier. I noticed that she had a mark on her neck but I wasn't brave enough to look closer.

"You left me!" I accused. I know, I know, I'm a big girl and it's not Alicia's job to look after me but I was feeling pretty on edge and I think I had a right to be.

She looked at me innocently, "I was just coming to find you. This is Nicholas." She said, indicating to the vampire at her shoulder.

I smiled at him timidly and he nodded his head at me. As he nodded he dropped his gaze to my top and smiled in approval. Once again my cheeks burned red enough to mach my top. I saw Nicholas's eyes glance behind me and he suddenly looked serious. I turned my head to see what had caught his attention and looked up to see Mason standing right behind me. I turned back around to look at Alicia, who was smiling seductively at Mason.

"May I borrow you for a moment?" I heard Mason's smooth voice from behind me and had no choice but to turn around.

"Ok" was all I could manage to mumble. I had no idea what he could possibly want with me but I knew better than to say no to a Vampire.

Mason placed his hand on my lower back and guided me back to the living room. When we reached the black leather couches, he sat down and motioned for me to do the same.

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**A/N-** I hope you liked it. Sorry if it is a bit slow but I wanted to give you a chance to get to know February's character better before I got too far into the plot of the story.

**Please review and let me know what you think. **


	3. Into the night

**A/N:** I hope you like this chapter. **Please review**!

**Disclaimer-** I do not own any of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' characters.

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Chapter 3

"The dark rises when the dead does"

I sat down on the comfy, black leather couch and turned to face Mason. He was looking at me intently with a slight smile playing across his lips. His silence made me nervous; I was still unsure why he had wanted me to come and sit with him.

"I remember you" he started, "from that shop-MidnightBlue."

"Um, yeah. You came in on Thursday." I said, unsure where he was going with this.

I waited for him to continue but he didn't look like he was going to. He was just looking at me in a hungry way. _Eeeep_, I wondered if that was it- if he really was hungry…for my blood.

"You're not on friendly terms with Nikolas?" I asked, wanting more than anything to get his mind off of my veins.

"Why do you say that?" His voice was smooth as he looked me over once again.

"You two just didn't seem to like being in each others company, that's all." I said, shrugging.

"We have a history, yes, but that is not what I wish to talk to you about." His voice had suddenly changed; it became sterner and less smooth.

This sudden change in his attitude made me nervous. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked, wanting him to get to the point so I could leave.

He smiled slightly and continued, "I wanted to ask you something. Do you know the luogo di oscurità?"

I shook my head, having no idea what he was talking about.

"It means place of darkness. It's sort of a Vampire "realm". I need a human-human girl- to accompany me there. It's the only way I can get in, since I haven't been exactly welcome in the last couple of years."

I panicked, realising that he wanted me to be said "human escort".

"Me?" I asked, hoping that I was wrong.

"Yes, you are perfect for the job. I will pay you of course. And you will be in no danger as long as you stay by my side." He seemed so confident that my answer would be yes that he wasn't even asking me if I would do it. Of course he didn't realise what a coward I was.

"I don't think so." I said matter-of-factly.

His arrogant attitude seemed to fade somewhat and he looked at me in a more serious manner. "You don't even know what it entails. In fact, you would hardly have to do a thing. You would just have to", he paused, looking slightly uncomfortable, "pretend to be my slave."

I had my mind made up in a second, "no way. There is no way I'm going with you-as a slave- into a vampire "realm" where you are not even welcome."

"I have already told you, you will be in no danger and I will pay you…handsomely. How does twenty thousand dollars sound?"

Whoa, twenty thousand dollars? I knew vampires were supposed to be rich but I didn't know they could throw around money as though it was nothing. While twenty dollars sounded tempting, living past my eighteenth birthday sounded better.

"I can't do it. You'll just have to find some other girl; it shouldn't be hard to do." I said. I started to get up but he gripped my arm and made me sit down.

"No, it has to be you. What if I pay you fifteen thousand dollars?"

He sure was persistent.

He looked at me slyly, "Perhaps it doesn't need to be you; perhaps I can take Alicia…"

"Ok, ok, I'll do it." I couldn't believe he had just blackmailed me. I new that if he asked Alicia, she would say yes. She would say yes to anything a vampire asked. I couldn't let her do that because of me.

Mason smiled in triumph, "Fantastic. We leave in two weeks; I will see you before then to give you the details." He stood and began to walk away.

"You don't even know where I live." "I said, wondering how he would find me.

He looked back at me and smiled, "No, but I do know where you work." He walked out the front door and into the night.

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"So what did he want?" Alicia asked sounding concerned.

We had just arrived home at Alicia's house and I had decided to sleep over.

"He wants me to go with him to… luogo di oscurità, I think that's how you say it. Anyway, he says I have to pretend to be his slave."

Alicia made a strange face, "And what kind of slave would that be I wonder?"

"Nice Alicia, real nice." I said, rolling my eyes.

"I hope you told him where to stick it." She said making a rude gesture.

"Actually…I kind of said I would do it."

"You what! Feb, think about this. You are not exactly the type of person who does this kind of thing."

"He said he would pay me fifty thousand dollars and that I wouldn't get hurt."

Alicia shook her head, "Of course he would say that. And fifty thousand dollars is like pocket change to a vampire. Look, Nikolas told me that Mason's dangerous. Like, more than usual. I think this is a bad idea, especially for someone like you."

"What's that supposed to mean? Besides, I can think of fifty thousand reasons why it's a good idea." I said, not wanting her to know that the real reason-the only reason- I was doing this was because it was either her or me.

"Fine, it's your life, but I still think it's a bad idea." Alicia said in defeat. "Why does it have to be you? Why can't he find someone else, maybe I could do it?"

I quickly protested to this idea, if anything ever happened to Alicia I don't know what I'd do. "No you can't. I told him to get someone else but he said it had to be me."

"Maybe you look exceptionally tasty." She said, obviously trying to scare me out of going. She needn't bother trying to scare me, I was already plenty scared. "Fine, do it. Just promise me you'll keep safe."

"I promise."

I went to sleep that night with a feeling of dread in my stomach; I was not looking forward to my meeting with Mason.

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**A/N:** I hope you are enjoying this fanfic. This chapter was really quick to write, I must have been in the zone or something. I've even written the next chapter already!

**Please Review and let me know what you think.**


	4. Cruising By Night

**A/N:** Sorry if it has been a while, I have been busy writing my other fanfics. Here is chapter 4. I hope you like it.  
**Please Review! **Let me know what you think about this chapter (or the story line, characters etc).

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' characters or ideas

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**Chapter 4**

"**Thou art to me a delicious torment"**

Mason had said he would come to me within two weeks of the circuit party. I had been nervously keeping an eye on the door of MidnightBlue every shift I had, but he never came. Finally on the ninth day I heard the familiar ring of the shop doorbell, telling me that someone had entered MidnightBlue, and I looked up to see Mason's dark eyes looking down at me.

He smiled at me warmly, "Hello February, I trust you are well."

I could tell he didn't care if I was well or not, he was just trying to appear nice so that I wouldn't put up a fight about pretending to be his slave. I nodded in answer to his question and waited for him to continue.

"What time do you finish work?" He asked as he looked around the quiet shop.

I looked at my watch, "I'm done in half an hour."

"Good. I will wait until then to talk to you. Perhaps I can drive you home?" he asked looking at me innocently. Before I could answer a customer asked for help and by the time I was done he was gone.

When my shift was over I walked warily into the dark parking lot. There was only one car left, a very expensive looking car, and sure enough as I got closer the door opened and Mason's tall figure appeared beside the car. He walked over to the other side and opened the passenger door.

"It's ok, I catch the bus." I said, not wanting him to drive me home on this dark night- or any night for that matter.

"That is not safe. Your parents allow you to do this?" He said, sounding like an old-timer. Actually he _was_ old, how old I did not know. He looked 19 but of course he must be a lot older than that. I wondered if it would be rude to ask a vampire how old he was, in the end I thought better of it.

"My parents don't care." I said, not wanting to get into _that _right now.

He looked curious but did not push the subject, instead he sighed slightly and whispering, "They should."

I was suddenly irritated though I don't know exactly why. "What is it you need to tell me?" I demanded, shocked at my own directness.

"Get in" he said gesturing into the open car door, "I will tell you on the way."

I stepped back slightly, letting him know that I would not let him drive me home.

He sighed, this time is frustration. "I will not hurt you. What good would it serve me? I still need you, remember? ...Besides, I have already fed." He grinned with this last sentence and the flash of his white teeth sent a shudder down my side.

I knew it would be no use to argue with him. If he really wanted to find out where I live he could do so without driving me home, I was sure. And if I were to argue too much he could quite easily pick me up and put me in his car.

"Fine, you can drive me home, as long as you're sure you're not hungry."

He laughed "I'm quite full actually." I didn't want to think too deeply into that one. He gestured, once again, into his car and I reluctantly got in. I sat down stiffly, and he closed the door. Once we were on the road Mason began to tell me the plans for my "Mission" (as I liked to think of it).

"I will pick you up at 11:00pm on Friday at your house. We may be gone for as little as four days or as long as a couple of weeks. What are you going to tell your parents?" he asked suddenly taking his eyes off the road so he could look at me.

I new that my parents wouldn't be a problem; I could tell them I was staying at Alicia's for a while and they wouldn't bat an eye. "They'll be fine with it, trust me." I said tartly and again Mason didn't push the subject.

"What is it that I have to do exactly?" I asked uncertainly.

Mason looked at me for a brief moment before returning his attention to the road, "I have already told you this, you will pretend to be my human slave. That is all."

I wasn't satisfied with this explanation. "But what does that entail? And why is it that it has to be who does this?"

He sighed again, this time in frustration; I was asking too many questions. "Being a slave requires you to do as I tell you, and nothing else. It needs to be you because you are believable as my slave; you look like the type of girl who would be my slave." He stopped there sensing he had said something wring.

"What do you mean I look like the type of girl who would be your slave!" I was completely offended even though I was not entirely sure what he had meant.

"What I meant was that you look like the slaves I've had in the past. We all have our types…"

"Of slaves! I cannot even believe that Vampires have slaves! This isn't the dark ages you know! I don't think I like being thought of as your type of slave." I still wasn't sure what he meant by "his type of slave" but I was sure it wasn't a good thing.

He glanced at me sideways and I told him to turn right before he continued with the conversation. "It is not real. You will not really be my slave, you will pretending. When you return back home you will never hear from or see me again."

"What about the other vampires?" I asked.

"What about them?" He said, trying to brush the subject off.

"What if they hurt me? I know you said I would be safe with you but I don't know you! How do I know you're not taking me there to sell me off as a slave?" I asked the question that had been on my mind all week.

"I am not going to sell you as a slave. Why would I? Clearly I do not need the money," by this I knew he was referring to his expensive car, "and what other reason would there be?"

I thought it over for a minute and realised that he was right, "I guess so, but what about the other vampires? You said yourself that you are not welcome there. If that's true then how can I possibly be safe with you?"

"It is true that I have not been welcome in the luogo di oscurità for a long time now. However, my few years and your few years are likely to be very different, remember I have all of eternity so time moves slowly for someone like me. I think enough time has past since I was exiled, it is time that I returned."

If enough time had past and he was going to be welcome back in luogo di oscurità I could not understand what he needed me for, "Why do you need me to come? How could I possibly be of any use?"

"You will see. Do not worry, you will not be asked to do anything trying or dangerous." He said, looking at me sincerely. "Here we are."

He pulled up next to my house and turned his car off. I was startled to realise that I hadn't given him any directions on how to get here. I hadn't even told him what area I lived in.

"How did you find my house? I didn't even say where I lived." I asked dumbfounded.

He moved in his seat so that his whole upper body was facing me. He looked a bit uncomfortable. "I followed you."

"You what!" I couldn't believe it, he had practically stalked me!

"I followed you home after the circuit party on Saturday. There were some Vampires at that party who had their eye on you and I wanted to make sure they didn't follow you home. If they did something to you, you would not be likely to trust a vampire again and I need you to trust me- or else I will not be able to trust you. Do you understand?"

"I suppose. It's still creepy though." I said, letting him know that he wasn't completely off the hook.

Mason suddenly grew impatient, "I will see you on Friday, yes?" He asked, looking at me intently with his dark eyes.

"Yes" I said shortly before making my way towards my house. Just as I started up the drive I heard Mason's black car roar down my street at top speed.

I closed my front door and dead-bolted it. For the first time in two weeks I let myself think about exactly what was happening. In one week I would be acting as a slave, accompanying a strange, dangerous vampire into a realm full of other dangerous, scary vampires -who may, or may not (probably not) be happy to see him.

I was royally screwed.

**A/N** Well there is Chapter 4. I hope you like it!

Please Review and let me know if you have any suggestions or whatnot.


	5. Step Into My Realm

**A/N: **I'm home sick from school so I thought I would write another chapter of Black rose night. Enjoy! (hopefully you will). Let me know what you think and feel free to give me any suggestions as they are always appreciated and helpful.Sorry if there are mistakes but my head hurts and I don't think I will be up for editing this-sorry.

Pandora

**Disclaimer: **again, I do not own any of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' characters or plots.

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**Chapter 5**

"**Step into the vampiric realm- you're bound to get caught"**

I ran around my room looking for anything I might have forgotten to pack. Packing was a hard task as I didn't know how long I would be gone for. I decided to pack light but prepared. I had told school I was going on a holiday but had left out how long I would be gone.

As I was shoving my mobile charger into my bag, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Feb, it's me. Are you still going through with it?" it was Alicia.

"Yes. We've been over this, I'll be fine." I said, trying to reassure her, while at the same time listening for Mason's car.

"Ok, but if you need me call. Ok?"

"Of course" I said, knowing full well that if something went wrong there was no way I would drag her into it.

"Be careful."

"I will. See you soon."

Just as I hung up, my room was flooded with light from Mason's headlights. I threw my bag over my shoulder and walked to the front door. Mason was waiting just on the other side.

"What's that?" he said, pointing at my bag.

"Clothes and stuff"

"You won't need that. Just bring the…essentials, I have taken care of the rest." He said, gently pushing past me into my house.

"I thought you had to be invited to get in" I said, remembering all the vampire books I had read.

"That's just a rumour." He smiled and walked into my room.

"What do you mean you have taken care of the rest?" I watched as he sat on the edge of my bed as if completely at home.

"I doubt that you have anything like what slaves would wear so I took the liberty to get some clothes." He was looking around my room as if it was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen.

"Oh" I said as I tipped out my bag and repacked a smaller bag with only essentials.

"I'm done" I said. Mason put down my photo album which he had been flicking through, and stood up.

"Let's go then" he said, picking up my bag and walking out of the room.

I sat in the passenger's seat of his car, relaxing into the leather seats. "How long does it take to get there?"

"A while. We have to go to the nearest porthole which is about a two hour drive." He said as though bored with the question.

"What is it that you are doing there?" I asked knowing immediately that I had asked the wrong question. Mason became stiff and looked agitated.

"That is not your concern." He said coldly. His tone was frightening and I reminded myself that I was in the presence of a vampire- I should be afraid.

"I'm sorry" I said, not knowing why he had reacted this way. He had never sounded cold like this before.

He seemed to relax a bit, "That's ok. I understand your curiosity; humans are curios creatures by nature. Please do not ask me again."

"Ok" I half whispered, looking out my side window.

Mason sighed lightly but didn't say anything. We sat in silence for a while and it appeared that he wasn't going to talk again anytime soon. I yawned and he glanced at me sideways before looking back at the road.

"Tired?" he asked

"A little, I had to work late last night." I said carefully, not wanting him to turn cold on me again.

"Hmmm, perhaps you should rest now. Before we get there." He said. I wondered if he wanted me to sleep so that I wouldn't bother him.

"I'll be fine" I said stubbornly.

"Sure" he didn't sound convinced.

Soon after I felt my eyes get heavy and I fell asleep.

The next thing I new I was being rubbed on the shoulder and heard quiet murmuring. I opened my eyes to find myself still seated in Mason's car. He had his hand on my shoulder; obviously he had been waking me up.

"You fell asleep." He said, stating the obvious, "we're at the porthole"

"Are we? I don't see it, what does it look like?" I had expected a big, weird looking thing, like the gate in stargate.

"See those rose bushes over there? That's it." He said, pulling something out from the back seat.

"Here, put these on." He handed me a dress that looked like the kind of thing slaves wear in movies set in old day.

He got out of the car and faced the other way while I out the dress on. I kept sneaking peaks to make sure he wasn't looking.

"I'm done" I said and Mason came around to my door and opened it.

"Oh" no one had done that for me before. Once again I found myself wondering how old he really was, after all, it was an old fashioned sort of thing to do.

I followed him to the back of the car. We were in the middle of nowhere. Mason took my bag out of the boot, along with what I guessed to be his (somewhat bigger) bag. He gestured for me to follow him to the rose bushes. As we got closer, I realised that the roses were black.

"Now what do we do?" I said, stopping in front of the rose bushes.

"You just walk into them. You have to go second, and, erm, carry the bags." He said, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Because I'm the slave, don't worry I get it." I said, taking the bags

I watched as he stood in-between two of the rosebushes and then he was gone. I nervously walked in-between the same two bushes closed my eyes and held my breath. I opened my eyes a second later and I was still standing beside the rose bushes, only this time I wasn't in the middle of nowhere. I saw Mason a little to my left and walked over to him. I looked around and saw a huge castle type thing. We were in the garden or "grounds" of the castle.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking opened mouthed at the huge castle.

"luogo di oscurità"

"Well I guessed that. I meant, where _are_ we?" I said again, not looking away from the castle.

"Oh, we are at my home. One of my homes." He said, walking towards the huge double front doors. "I haven't been here for a long time, it might be a bit run down." He opened the big doors and I followed him inside.

It was beautiful. I had never seen anything like it before. We were in a large entrance room with marble floors and I could see a huge marble stair case. There was a big, dusty (but magnificent) chandelier hanging from the roof.

"You live here?" I asked amazed.

"Lived, actually. Hopefully I will live here for a while now." He said, taking the bags from me and walking towards the staircase.

"You must be really rich" I said, following him up the stairs.

"Most vampires are- we have a long time to make money." He said, brushing off the comment.

Once we reached the second floor landing we walked towards a long corridor. The second floor was just as impressive as the first.

"This is your room." Mason said, opening a large wooden door.

I looked in and was amazed. It was so much bigger than my room at home. It too had a marble floor, it also had a king sized four-post bed, a large antique wooden dresser with a huge mirror, an antique couch and an adjoining bathroom. The most superlative part of the room however was the window. It was huge, taking up one whole side of the room, and it opened up onto a balcony with glass doors that moulded so perfectly into the window that you couldn't even see them.

"It's beautiful." I said, following him into the room.

"I'm in the room directly above yours on the next level, in case you need something. I'll let you unpack. Oh, ad there should be a duster in the closet if you need it." He placed my bag beside the bed and left.

I went straight to the closet and got the duster out. I opened the window doors so that the dust could get out and started dusting the room, hoping not to see any big spiders (of which I am terrified). I pulled out some clean, dust free bed linen from the closet and made the bed before falling on top of it and closing my eyes.

Later the next day I was woken by the sound of knocking on my door.

"Come in" I mumbled, trying to open my eyes.

Mason stood beside my bed expressionless, "Tonight I am having guests over for dinner." He said.

"Dinner?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I suddenly grew nervous, hoping that I wasn't on the menu.

"Well, not dinner exactly, but they will be here at dinner time. I assume they will have already fed." He said

"And you?" I asked, wondering where he would find a human to feed from in a vampiric community.

"What of me?"

"Will you have fed?"

"Not off of you, if that is what you are worried about." He leered at me, "On second thoughts, you _do_ smell delicious." He said, cupping my chin with his icy hand forcing me to look up at him.

I jerked away quickly but it only made him laugh "You are so easy to frighten. I am not going to feed from you" with that he left the room, chuckling quietly to himself.

I got dressed and started to clean the castle; if I was supposed to be a slave I had better start acting like one, after all, it is not wise to annoy a vampire. The cleaning was also good to take my mind off of tonight's little dinner party. I was not looking forward to meeting more blood suckers, and I was just praying that Mason was right to assume that they would have already fed.

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**A/N:** I have a castle fetish, I just love them and had to put one into this story. By the way, Mason is not the only one with a castle, all the Vampires in luogo di oscurità live in huge castles, as luogo di oscurità is an ancient vampiric realm (duh) so when it was "made" it was a castle era. Please **Review** and let me know what you think about this chapter.

Pandora


	6. Chapter 6

I am soooo sorry I haven't updated in ages! I have had my part one exams and for the next two weeks I am dong my part two exams. I will be updating all of my fanfictions from the 18th of November. Sorry it is three weeks away! I would update sooner if I could but I am really stressed right now.

I hope that's ok

Love Pandora


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